“Touch yourself,” I whisper against her ear, my voice rough with need. “I want to feel you come around me.”
Her hand slips between us, fingers finding that sensitive bundle of nerves while I continue to move inside her. The sight of her pleasuring herself while I’m buried deep makes my control fracture, my movements becoming more urgent.
“That’s it,” I breathe, watching her face as she climbs toward release. “Let me feel you.”
She comes apart with a cry that cuts through me, her body clamping down on me so tight I follow her over the edge, spilling myself inside her as the bondlockswith quiet certainty. The sensation overwhelms everything else, not just physical release, but the perfect fit of our connection finally settling into place.
I draw her into my arms like she’s always belonged there, our bodies spent and breath still shallow. Her shadows drift around us lazily, no longer chaotic but content, swaying like they’re singing lullabies I can’t hear.
“Are you all right?” I murmur against her temple.
She nods, pressing a kiss to the hollow of my throat. “Better than all right.”
I hold her tighter, memorizing the weight of her in my arms, the way her breath feels against my skin. Whatever hellis coming for us—whatever forces are moving in the dark—I’ll carry this moment into the fire.
She chose me. Not fate, not ancient magic, not bonds forged in desperation.
Me.
If this is the only time I ever get to be hers completely, then it’s enough. I’ll hold this night like a treasure, proof that once, in the space between one heartbeat and the next, I was exactly where I belonged.
And she was mine.
Chapter 42
Finn
Finn
The bond snaps into place like a lock turning.
I feel it from across camp, where I’ve been pretending to check the perimeter while actually avoiding the lake. The sensation is familiar now—I’ve felt it before when Aspen and Kaia came together, that sudden click of completion, like puzzle pieces finally finding their fit.
This time, it cuts.
My knees hit the ground before I can stop them, chaos magic sparking wild around my fingers as the realization crashes over me. It’s Malrik. Of course it’s fucking Malrik. I should have seen this coming. Should have prepared for it.
But knowing something’s going to hurt doesn’t make the blade any less sharp when it finally finds your ribs.
The bond settles between them with a finality that makes my chest hollow out. I can feel it through my connection to Kaia—not the details, thank every god in existence, but thecertainty. The way her magic has shifted, aligned, found its anchor in someone who isn’t me.
“Shit,” I breathe, pressing my palms against my eyes. “Shit, shit, shit.”
My chaos magic responds to the spike of emotion, painting the air around me in streaks of color that die as quickly as they form. Even my power doesn’t know what to do with this particular brand of devastation.
I should stay here. Should give them privacy, space, whatever the hell people need after they’ve just locked their souls together for eternity.
Instead, I find myself walking toward the lake.
Because I’m an idiot. Because I apparently enjoy pain. Because some masochistic part of me needs to see what I’ve lost with my own eyes.
The water comes into view through the trees, moonlight turning the surface to liquid silver. At first I don’t see them—just the gentle lap of waves against the shore, the soft glow of moss drifting across the water like fallen stars.
Then I spot them.
Kaia curled against Malrik’s chest in the shallows, her hair dark with water, shadows drifting peacefully around them like they’re singing lullabies. His arms circle her protectively, chin resting on top of her head. Even from here I can see the way she melts into him, boneless and trusting in a way that stops my breath.
She never looked that peaceful with me.
